Cancer at 27….Wait, What?

Trust me in your times of trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory. 

-Psalm 50:15

Around two months ago, Charlie and I found each other sitting in the ER due to severe chest pains that nearly caused me to blackout while driving home from Bible study.  As soon as we arrived, I was upset that I had let myself succumb to the pain and found myself apologizing profusely to Charlie that we had ended up in the ER.  Before ending up in the ER, I had been having chest pains for the previous two weeks that I had been ignoring for the most part.  

After the ER, a few weeks passed, the pain went away, and everything seemed fine.  Abbey and Caynan got married on October 11, we celebrated their amazing wedding, and on Sunday…we rested.  Charlie and I were watching Sunday night football as a breast cancer awareness commercial came on the t.v.  I jokingly looked at him and mentioned that I should make sure that I didn't have breast cancer and performed a lame attempt of a self-breast exam on myself…..and I found a lump. 

If I did not have a follow-up exam with my doctor that next day from my ER visit, I would have ignored the lump.  Put it off in the back of my mind and continued with my life as I had been.  I even contemplated not telling the doctor about the lump the next day, but I made Charlie a promise I would at least just mention it.  The doctor found the lump as well, but she wasn't worried.  The percentage of someone my age getting breast cancer, with no prior family history, was less than 5%.  But, she scheduled an ultrasound just in case.  

I debated canceling the ultrasound, multiple times.  Personally, I hate the doctors office and I hadn't been since I was maybe 16 years old and I preferred to keep it that way.  Plus, I hate hospital bills and I felt like this was a waste of my time.  But I went.  The ultrasound looked, "odd" and the nurse concluded that there was indeed a lump there.  All I could think was, "No kidding, it feels like there is a small ball in there.  I could have told you that and I probably just spent a couple thousand dollars for you to tell me that very same thing." 

So they scheduled a mammogram and another ultrasound.  I actually quite enjoyed my stay at the Mills Breast Cancer Institute that day.  I jokingly referred to it as a day at the spa…HGTV, free chocolate, heated blankets, I was a happy little girl.  The doctors told me before I left that they were going to schedule a biopsy just to be safe, but that they weren't worried about anything.  It was highly unlikely that it would turn out to be cancer.  

Biopsy came.  It hurt.  Don't let anyone else tell you otherwise. And then we waited for the test results. I 100% fully expected to find out in a few days that the lump was no big deal, that this was a waste of time, and I could go back to my normal life.  

When the doctor told Charlie and I that I the lump was cancer, two thoughts went through my mind immediately.  First, "You must have the wrong test results".  Second, "Thank you, Jesus, for sending me Charlie."   The first day was a fog.  A lot to process, we called family members  and close friends to update them, and I went back to work.  Doctor appointments were lined up the next day and Charlie and I put our game faces on.  My mom came up to Champaign to attend the appointments with us, and I was extremely grateful for their presence.  

Over the course of the next week or so, we have been overwhelmed by the support of so many friends and family members in the form of prayers, emails, texts, phone calls, flowers, cards, and acts of kindness.  Humbling is all we can describe it as.   

During those nights, I began to have some deep conversations with God.  I have not once been angry, nor have I yet asked the "why me?" question.  I mean "why not, me?".   All I could say was, "Okay God, I'm giving this to you.  I'm going to trust you.  You're going to get us through this.  If this is something you want me to carry, I will do this if it will bring You glory."  

This is what we know right now.  I have breast cancer, invasive ductal carcinoma.  Size: 1.6x1.4x1.6 cm, stage 1, grade 3 (the most aggressive type).  The cancer is hormone positive, which is good as it will allow more treatment options.  Surgery is scheduled to happen at the end of November, chemo to follow (likely starting in January), and then radiation.  We are waiting on the genetic testing to come back to see if I test positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations.  If it comes back positive and that I do have one of the two mutations, we will change our course of action.  

Finding out you have cancer is never easy, but knowing that you're surrounded by so many friends and family members who have been willing to pray over this situation, give up their time to help support us, and send an overwhelming amount of kind words makes it all a whole lot easier.  The journey is just beginning, but we know we will make it through.  We are so grateful for everyone God has placed in our lives, words cannot express our gratitude thus far.  So we just say, thank you.  We will beat this.  We have received so many prayers, I know God is in this.  He is here in this situation. 

What you can do: 

So many people have asked if they can do anything for us, and our answer right now is, Yes.  Please specifically pray that my genetic testing comes back negative and for energizing rest.  Pray for our marriage that this does not define who Charlie and I become over the next year, and pray for my family, as this has probably caused more worry for them than myself.  We will keep you updated along the way, and we thank you so much for reading this.  

Stay positive and enjoy what you have been given.  Each day is a gift and no one fights alone.   

"Leaning" - Photo taken by Karen Thompson. :)